Highland Links Golf Course

Few courses in North America carry the quiet authority of Highland Links. Opened in 1939 and designed by Stanley Thompson — Canada's greatest golf architect — it occupies a dramatic sweep of Cape Breton Highlands National Park, making it the only golf course in Canada situated entirely within a national park. Thompson considered it among his finest works, and it's easy to understand why: the routing moves through forest, along river valleys, and out to clifftop terrain above the Atlantic, with the Clyburn River winding through several holes in the middle stretches.

The course rewards thoughtful golf over power. Thompson's greens are famously contoured, and the wind off the ocean can turn a manageable approach into something altogether more demanding. Hole 11, known as "Mash," is often cited as one of the most iconic holes in Canadian golf — a downhill par 5 where the Highlands scenery arrives all at once.

Cape Breton itself is a destination of uncommon beauty, and the Cabot Trail draws visitors from around the world. Highland Links sits at the heart of it, offering the rare experience of walking a course where the national park boundary is the rough.